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Drouin goal helps Lightning win Game 2

Bishop makes 19 saves to square second-round series with Islanders

by
Corey Long
/ NHL.com Correspondent

TAMPA -- Jonathan Drouin scored his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal to help the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the New York Islanders 4-1 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 at Barclays Center on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

Tyler Johnson scored twice, and Victor Hedman had a goal for the Lightning. Ben Bishop made 19 saves.

"I thought the team played really well," Bishop said. "We are going to have to continue like this. We saw what we did wrong in Game 1 (a 5-3 loss on Wednesday), and I thought we did a better job possessing the puck, getting pucks deep, not really feeding their transitions with turnovers. Obviously, when we don't do all those things, we play pretty well."

Drouin became the fourth Lightning player to have his first NHL playoff goal stand as a game-winner, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"It was a great feeling," Drouin said. "A lot of adrenaline going back. That was a big win. Our backs were against the wall a little bit and I'm happy I could get a goal, and getting a two-goal lead was huge for us."

Nikolay Kulemin scored his first goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Islanders, who managed eight shots on goal in the final two periods after holding a 12-5 advantage after the first. Thomas Greiss made 27 saves.

"We are still three wins away from winning the series," Islanders center John Tavares said. "Obviously we want to be better than we were [Saturday]. We need to slow them down, they are obviously a quick team. So we need to be more aggressive on the forecheck."

Johnson's goal at 6:03 in the first period gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead. The play began when Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck and defenseman Nick Leddy collided, disrupting the Islanders defense. Ondrej Palat took advantage and started a 2-on-1 with a pass to Johnson, who beat Greiss with a backhand.

"It was a great pass from [Palat]," Johnson said. "Not too much sauce on it. Kind of like good home-cooked Italian pasta."

Lightning coach Jon Cooper made the decision to put "The Triplets" line of Johnson, Palat and Nikita Kucherov back together during practice Friday.

"The engine keeps on going and [Johnson] gets another three points [Saturday]," Cooper said. "Remarkably I look at the score sheet and [Kucherov] wasn't on it point-wise but he was dangerous all night. Palat was a beast."

Drouin made it 2-0 at 11:55 of the first period. He put a backhand between Greiss' pads off an assist by Valtteri Filppula. At 21 years, 34 days old, Drouin is the youngest Lightning player to score a game-winning playoff goal.

"He's playing well," Cooper said. "When we need the big goal and we need the goals to get us going there, he is creating offense and scoring for us. It's not just that, it's his play all over the ice. He's competing real hard."

New York scored on its third power play of the first period at 15:15 to make it 2-1. Thomas Hickey took a shot from the center point and Kulemin redirected it past Bishop.

"We have played games where we should have been up and we're not, down when we should be, so I mean [Tampa Bay] is a quick team," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "They got some chances. [Bishop] made some saves early, but they squeaked one in there that I think gave them some momentum. Then they shut the door in the third."

The Lightning made it 3-1 on the power play 11:59 into the second period with Hedman's first goal of the playoffs. He took a slap shot from center point that appeared to hit the skate of Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan before getting past Greiss. Drouin got his sixth assist of the playoffs.

"We played with way more speed," Hedman said. "We took advantage of our strengths. We got the puck deep, we got working and created some confusion around the net, and we played quick defensively."

Johnson scored his second of the game and fourth in the playoffs with 2:18 remaining in the third period into an empty net.

New York was trying to take a 2-0 playoff lead for the first time since 1983.

"I think the team had a great game," Greiss said. "You know they played really well. I gave up a couple [goals], could have been better. Overall, I think we played a good game. They came a little hard at the end, but it was a good game."